Demon
by Jade R. Raven
Summary: Rin hears from village children that demons are evil , and questions Sesshomaru about it. SessyRin fatherdaughter cute ONESHOT


Disclaimer: Don't own no Dog-Eared Puppy Boys. Nope.

GothGurl: And yet ANOTHER Sesshy fanfic! (falls over) Erm, if anyone's interested, the other ones by me are 'Bedtime Story' and 'Human' (SHAMELESS PLUG!) However, this one will be more about Rin, while the others are more Fluffy-based. Anyway, just some random cuteness...kind of, its more serious, but I promise you cuteness at the end!.Also, the village children in this story are creations by me, but they are kinda just plot devices, this IS about Sess and Rin, I assure you! On with the story!

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"Hey! No pushing!"

"No fair!"

"I'm telling Mama!"

Rin laughed along with the other village children as the twins Michiru and Shigure wrestled over a worn-out old doll that they carried with them everywhere. Apparently, according to some of the older children in the group, they did this sort of thing often, and in the end their mother would come marching up and scold the two right in front of everyone.

Rin was happy to actually spend some time with humans her own age; she hardly ever got to, considering how much Sesshomaru traveled, and only very rarely did they even come close to, let alone stop at, a human village. She didn't know anyone there and they didn't know her, but they were children and they knew a new playmate when they saw one. She was accepted into their group without question.

One girl in particular, Kaname, had taken a liking to Rin over the few hours that they had known each other, so the two of them sat side by side, clapping and giggling at the antics of the twins. Shigure was tugging on Michiru's ear, and Michiru was trying to free himself, stamping his feet indignantly. Rin laughed at this silly sight and looked at the sky. It was beginning to turn yellowish orange and there were long shadows along the ground. She should be getting back to the camp, she thought, as night would be coming shortly. She didn't want Sesshomaru to worry (which she knew he did even if he refused to show it..)

And she also didn't want him to come blasting into the village, sword drawn, looking for her. He could be a bit over-protective sometimes.

Kaname poked her in the arm, interupting the girls thoughts, "Rin-chan! We're gonna play tag now. Are you gonna play?" her eyes lit up hopefully.

Rin looked back at the forest edge thoughtfully, where she knew Jaken would probably be cooking fish for supper right now..

... The others wouldn't miss her for just a few more minutes, right? Right?

Whatever, she just really wanted to play tag. She nodded happily at Kaname, jumping up to join them.

Unfortunetly, the game never got started due to another little boy with short black hair running up to them, waving his arms excitedly. "Oi! You lot!" he called, and the children turned to look at him curiously.

"Hello, Haku-chan!" said a few, with deep respect in their voices, which Rin thought was strange. She surveyed the boy doubtfully; he looked normal to her, if not a little short, and scrawny. And very freckled.

"Hello! Boy, have I got a story to tell you fella's." said Haku, sitting on the ground, keeping his back straight importantly, chin high. The rest of the children copied him, and Rin copied too. They were all staring at him in awe, and he knew it, he had a smug smile on his spotty face.

'What?' asked Rin in her thoughts. Aloud, she whispered to Kaname, "Why is everyone staring at this boy?"

"'Cause his Dad is a really famous hunter in this village, he's always got cool stories to tell." said Kaname, not taking her eyes off Haku. Rin blinked. She didn't know you could be famous for being a hunter. So, what, he killed like deer and stuff? Poor deer, she thought sadly.

Haku was eyeing the children, making sure he had everyone's attention, before he began speaking, loudly and importantly. " Well, it all started when my mama heard a noise outside last night. She thought it sounded like something really, really, big, and got a-scared. So my Pop went outside in the dark, all by his self." he paused for affect, the village children were all wide-eyed, but Rin stifled a yawn. She had heard _Jaken_ tell better stories. Haku ignored her and continued, "So, he lit his lantern and liften the light, and saw, right on the path in front of him, snarling, a huge, hideous demon!" he grinned. The audience gasped, all but Rin.

'So what?' thought Rin. 'Jaken is a tiny, hideous demon. And he's not all that special.' The others didn't seem to agree. Little ones squeaked and hid their faces, and even ones who were much older then Rin giggled nervously, glancing around them to make sure there were no demons among them at that moment. Rin frowned at their reactions. She wasn't sure she understood what was going on.

The dark haired little boy was now bouncing on the spot, waving his arms around excitedly, "Now, my Pop is real tough, as you all know, so he didn't run away from the demon like a sissy! Nope! He got out his sword, ran right up to it, looked it in the eye, and--" he jumped up, fists raised triumphantly. "Sliced the things head right off! Like a piece of bread!"

This statement was met with laughter, cheers, and whoops. All the children jumped up to their feet and danced around gleefully, giggling and praising Haku and his noble demon-slaying father.

"SLIICE!"

"Right off!"

"Can you imagine!"

Rin wasn't so impressed. Her eyes widened in childish disgust.

"That's awful!" she wailed, horrified. The village kids stopped their demented dance and stared at her, incredulous. Haku raised an eyebrow, which made his numerous freckles look even sillier somehow.

"How's that awful? He killed the demon."

"What was the demon doing that it needed to be killed?" she demanded, feeling suddenly very sorry for the poor demon. Imagine having your head cut off!

Haku looked at the other kids, eyes wide, as if asking if they knew what was wrong with the girl before him. They shrugged, and Haku turned back to her "It wasn't doin' nothin'. It was just a demon, y'know."

"Demons are evil." said a small boy with a turned-up nose. There were murmers of agreement.

"Yeah, they kill people."

"And they're scary, and have weird powers."

"My mama says that if I ever see one, I should run away as fast as I can."

"Mine too."

"Mine three."

Suddenly they were all exchanging horror stories about demons, with mixed expressions of excitement and earnestness, as though this was something small children shouldn't talk about. Rin had never heard anything like this before. Surely they weren't **all** that bad? After all, Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken and Ah-Un weren't like that...Were they? No! She decided. Never! Not Sesshomaru-sama! She interupted the enthusiasm once again.

"But you said the demon was on a path, right? What if he was just taking a nighttime walk or something? Or visiting some other demon. Maybe he has on old Grandma demon somewhere who's wondering where he's gotten too."

Some of the children thought the Grandma demon thing was amusing and giggled loudly for a few moments, before becoming solemn again.

"You're cracked." said an older girl to Rin, but she was watching her with a strange kind of admiration. Several others were too. Rin realized they thought this new point of view was interesting, and decided to expand on it a bit.

"Well, think about it. Here's some nice little demon going to visit his Grandmama one night to help her bake some buns, and next things he knows, some weird human is rude enough to come and bump his head off. Now it'll take twice as long to roll all the way to Grandma's." Some of the younger children laughed. A few others giggled, but were now glancing at each other uneasily. It had never crossed their minds before that a demon might have feelings..

Rin knew demons had feelings from the time Jaken had angered Sesshomaru (by not babysitting her properly) and the little toad was depressed and ashamed the whole day. And she knew that when you scratched Ah-Un behind the ears he would close his eyes and growl lightly, almost like purring. And Sesshomaru-sama..

Well, Sesshomaru-sama was simply Sesshomaru-sama.

Haku sensed his audience was beginning to lean towards Rin's opinion, and stood up again, hands on his hips. "Don't be stupid! They don't have _feelings!_ Demons are evil, they gotta be, otherwise why would all the grown-ups be a-scared of 'em?"

"Thats right! Even the grown-ups are a-scared!"

"Thats cause demons are bad. One time a snake demon ate our sheep."

"They eat people too! I heard that they eat people!"

"And they smell!"

More laughter.

"Besides. When have _you_ ever met a demon? What do you know anyway?" Haku smirked at her.

Rin knew she couldn't answer that; Sesshomaru-sama had grudgingly permitted her to visit the villages they passed ,if she wished, but only as long as she never spoke of him to the humans she met. She was beginning to see why.

But they were all so insistant about demons being mean, horrible creatures, that she was also beginning to get confused...

Her thoughts were interupted for the second time that day, but this time by a shrill, familiar voice echoing from the woods.

"_RIN! YOU BAKA GIRL, GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"_

The little girl sighed. Jaken was calling her. She had stayed too long, and the sun had long since set. She waved good-bye to Kaname and the other children and walked towards the dark forest, leaving behind a very confused group of village kids.

"Its about time you came back from that stupid village!" sqawked the small toad demon as soon as she came into view. She ignored him, but he took no notice, "You can't stay out at all hours, you foolish child, you are very bold for keeping Sesshomaru-sama waiting! If it were me, I'd--!"

"Jaken-sama.." she interupted quietly, looking up at him with sad eyes, making him stop.

"What? Whats the matter with you?" he snapped, though his voice was a lot softer then before. She shook her head, and they walked in silence.

When they arrived at the camp, the two ate their fish quietly, Rin occasionally sneaking Ah-Un a few pieces that were too toasty for her (the two-headed dragon liked those bits). Sesshomaru, from where he was leaning against a nearby tree, found this silence both refreshing and very, very odd.

Later, after Jaken had fallen asleep against a rock, holding his staff like a cuddly toy, Rin was lying awake against Ah-Un, watching Sesshomaru-sama. He was still leaning against the same tree, gazing up at the crescent moon in the sky, like he always did at night (she couldn't recall ever seeing him sleep). She was suddenly aware that even though he looked very human, he wasn't. His fangs, claws, markings, and faintly luminous gold eyes were enough to show that.

And Jaken had once told her that this wasn't even her Lords only form. He could also appear to be a giant white dog. She had never seen him like that, though...

Eventually, her uneasiness got the better of her and she got up and trotted over to the tall dog demons side. He obviously knew she was there ( he had his super keen hearing and sense of smell after all) but he did not acknowledge her until she finally spoke. "Sesshomaru-sama?"

He looked down at her expression-lessly. "Yes?"

She hesitated, then spoke again, quietly. "Have you ever...eaten anyone?"

_BLINK._

"...No." he said simply, raising one eyebrow just slightly above the other. "Why do you ask?"

Rin giggled slightly in relief, "Some kids in the village say that demons eat people...so..uh.." she trailed off.

"Well I can assure you I never have." he stated, looking back at the moon, thinking the conversation was over. He decided not to mention that there were, indeed, some demons who ate humans. But not him. Ew, quite frankly.

But Rin didn't go back to Ah-Un to sleep, she spoke again, "The kids in the village also said, that...demons were...evil." for some reason she looked like a kicked puppy as she said this, and Sesshomaru was immedietly concerned.

He kneeled down to be level with her, and looked at her face; she looked sad and confused. He suddenly realised just how very young she was, even by human standards. "Do you believe them?" he asked.

She didn't answer for a moment, she looked around at the sleeping figures of Jaken and Ah-Un, then back at him. "No."

"You shouldn't." he said sternly. "Ah-Un is very loyal to you, he obeys you more then me half the time." Rin smiled at that. She _was _very fond of the dragons who didn't speak, and Ah-Un was equally fond of her, it seemed.

"What about Jaken-sama?" she asked, sounding skeptical. "He doesn't like me at all."

"Jaken will protect you if you ever need protecting, isn't that so?"

Rin had to agree with that, thinking back on all the times the little toad demon had flung himself in front of her when an enemy came too close. Jaken was OK, just a little high-strung. She nodded, smiling even more, feeling her sadness and doubt melt away.

The demon Lord nodded curtly in response, then said, as emotion devoid as ever, "And what about me?"

Rin blinked, taken aback. "You, Sesshomaru-sama?"

He looked at her steadily, studying her eyes, "Do you think _I'm_ 'evil'?"

"No! Of course not!" she said desperatly, afraid she had offended him somehow. He was the only one who had been kind to her, in the past when she had no home. After her parents and brother died, all the other humans , _her own kind,_ would do was ignore her or punish her for things she didn't do, or for not speaking. Sesshomaru had saved her life, then taken her with him. Although, even she had to admit, he wished he would be a little nicer to Inuyasha-kun...but that was sibling rivalry for ya. "Never never never!"

"Good." he said, standing up again. "Now you'll know not to believe everything you hear."

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama." she grinned happily, moving forward and hugging his waist tightly, which was as high as she could reach. "Thank you!"

'For what?' he wondered, but shrugged it off. Humans were strange, emotional creatures, no one could explain their actions to him. "Now go to sleep, Rin."

"Okay."

Sesshomaru looked away from her and at the moon once more. Rin looked down at the fluffy thing that was laying on the ground, hanging off his shoulder. She picked it up and squeased it. She loved this thing, it was so soft!

"Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Yes Rin?"

"Can I sleep here?"

He saw out the corner of his eye that she was curled up against the mokomoko, already half-asleep. He nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Yay.." She shifted, and fell asleep in two seconds flat. He blinked slowly, then sat down next to her, allowing the small girl to lean against him, glancing around the trees protectively. They stayed like that the rest of the night, Rin sleeping soundly against a demon, who gazed silently at the moonlight.

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GothGurl: Behold! The cheese! XD. Sorry, this one had little to no comedy, but it was meant to be that way. I apoligize. It also had little to no plot, but meh. Anyway, I really want to know what people think of this story, since I wrote it in a slightly different style, so could you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review if you've read this far? It only takes a moment to review, I promise! Hope you enjoyed it!

REVIEW!


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